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The TTR250 FAQ web pages -> TTR250 -> Ride out and event reports -> Fire Season in Cali
Post Info TOPIC: Fire Season in Cali
PlumasDude


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Fire Season in Cali
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I know this isn't relevant to most of you, but if you're curious about riding conditions in the western US fire season has been great in Oregon, and not bad in NorCal, until last week.  The Walker Fire blew up last weekend and is at 50,000 acres and contained only by wind.  40,000 acres of timber, not a bunch of scrub.  Our riding area in NE Plumas is maybe 250,000 acres.  If you're bored, on the map below the area within the green squares is about half our riding area, there are 2 paved roads through that entire area (2 lane and crappy), so its dirt bike heaven.  The fire is obviously the red area.  Our place is at the "s" in Stony Ridge.  Fires are crazy, they jump around and skip things and sometimes large parts of the fire can actually be an improvement if the big trees don't burn.  Other parts can look like the moon.  Obviously I haven't been in there yet but I'm sure our favorite gorge is torched - 20,000 acres of heavy timber burned in 4 hours Saturday nite, hard to imagine, the fire crews can't do anything but run for their lives and try to establish a new line a few miles back.  VLTs look like mosquitos over this fire.  As of this morning its still 3 miles from my meadow but the winds are turning bad again so I'll just have to sit up here in Oregon and look at caltopo.com and stew.  I posted the scenery shot below last year, for context that gorge is now charcoal, we hope the rest isn't as bad.  And hey, it will all grow back ... in a couple hundred years.

But riding in the Oregon cascades has been great this month.

Walker Fire 9-12-19.jpeg

red clover canyon 9.13.18.jpg



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ttboof


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Not the answer you were after but here on the east coast of Australia , we have been surrounded by fires for the last couple of months and its winter , with one outside port Macquarie where i work a couple a couple  of days a week now been burning for a bit over 7 weeks now  .  the area i cover for work is approx 200ks in length and there is no break from the smoke anywhere .

back on the subject a bit we have the forestry closing parks and forests at time of extreme fire danger it impacts on riding time but its necessary , like you i have a few directions i can head to ride so can usually find an area that safe to ride ,that may change when we move into summer if it doesn't rain .The positive is the bike only gets dusty and no need to wash any mud off biggrin



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TerryK


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We get a lot of fires here in South Australia as it's very dry but we don't have the dense forests, more scrub than forest.

Terry

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ttboof


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TerryK wrote:

We get a lot of fires here in South Australia as it's very dry but we don't have the dense forests, more scrub than forest.

Terry

 I have family in Adelaide and they notice the same  dry but different landscapes 

Drive most  of today in smoke dodging fire trucks and water bombers  it's an unusual start to spring 

6pm still 28deg 

 

Rode last weekend fingers crossed next weekend is OK again 



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PlumasDude


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Misery loves company, but I'm sorry to hear its not just our woods on fire. Plumas is getting rain tonight and it looks like this will be about 60,000 acres in the end. Oregon on the other hand has been perfect all summer.

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ttboof


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Woke up to rain today  nice 



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PlumasDude


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I got out put putting around with the wife this week to get a look at the fire.  Here are after and before pics, hard to see the fire damage in my crappy shots but maybe you get the picture

last chance camp 10.15.19.jpg

last chance camp (2) 10.15.19.jpg

Before: last spring:

clarks last chance 5.29.18.jpg

fire got into this forest pretty good

last chance 3 10.15.19.jpg

lower stony 27N 10.15.19.jpg

But thankfully my place is still looking good, great camping and riding, down to low 20s at night (6000 ft) but mid 60s during the day.

meadow 1 10.15.19.jpg

meadow 2 10.15.19.jpg



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TTRfan


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Great photos - thanks for sharing.

Will the burnt trees grow again or are they dead?

Brian



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PlumasDude


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dead, if more than 1/2 the needles are brown they're done, a lot of it didn't top because the trees were fairly wet so the wood is in good shape but the tree is dead, hopefully they can salvage log.

not that I would do such a thing but that TTR just TTRactors all over the place in 2nd gear like a quad. as you can see the brush and little trees are gone in the burn, just bare dirt, and dead trees haven't started to fall, so the woods are open like XC skiing. but the FS says that's bad so I wouldn't think of it.

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PlumasDude


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RE: Fire Season in Cali (*and Oregon)
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Here we go again. I had a great solo ride Sunday up in the local hills, which are now on fire. No connection! 11:30 am and the street lights are still here in town. 2 day difference in the pics.  September is a great month for riding out here but the smoke can ruin it.


Christy Creek 9-6-2020.jpg

Eugene 9-8-2020.jpg



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ttboof


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RE: Fire Season in Cali
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It's been on the news here in Ozz

Hope it doesn't last too long 

Drove through a couple of fires on the way home today here today the fire season is just starting 

The forests are just reopened from the fires earlier this year 



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tripodtiger


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It used to be different times of the year, California and Victoria/NSW. These days the fire seasons overlap. And the Northern NSW & Queensland rain forests burnt last year too.
Climate change. No such thing.

Maybe the next bike will be electric? Not being flippant and I hope it doesn't start an argument. I'm pretty conflicted and conscious of the vehicles I drive, 99% of which is recreation.




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PlumasDude


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Well crap we finally got burned. 53 years coming. We're on the far NE end of the Dixie fire, south of Janesville. This fire started 60 miles from us 6 weeks ago. In the past 2 years we've moved from 100,000 acre fires to million acre fires. We lost all our mountain structures and some vehicles but that stuff doesn't matter, its the forest that you can't rebuild. I haven't been in yet, its still an evac zone, but a cousin got in and took some pics. We have some forest left, thankfully.

My first real bike, hasn't run in 20 years, actually it didn't get burned too bad, which is nuts because the barn with ATV 10 feet away is nothing but ash.  That's a 5 gal propane tank behind it, 500 gal off to the side (they are vented so they spew fire rather than explode). Forest fires are strange beasts.

Thankfully my TTRs are up here in Oregon, not burned.

1971 AT-1 125 Dixiefied.jpg

Barn/shed next to the bike, had a nice 700cc Grizzly in there along with lots of tools, generator, ropes ... mice ... I think the manual for that 125 was in there somewhere.

atv remains.jpg

The "new" cabin (1978):

cabin remains 2.jpg

The "old" cabin (1967):

log cabin 8.18.2021.png

Below is a real drag - you don't miss your water till your well runs dry right?  That's our springbox, melted into the spring, crap crap crap.  We're hoping to dig that out next weekend and see what's what, assuming the fire doesn't come back on us this week.  That spring is our only source of potable water.

spring tank 1.jpg

We are bugs on the windshield of climate change.



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TTRfan


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Bloody hell Ian - that's horrendous doh

Really sorry to hear you got hit and hope you can get that water back.

Good luck with rebuilding and best wishes from the UK.

Brian



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ttr steve


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Best wishes getting your stuff put straight, glad no one got injured there.



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KiwiJeff


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Hi Ian,
Many thanks for the photos.
We, who live in “Damp Climates” don’t experience this sort of thing.
Our “Cousins to the West” (Australia) get Fires like this but we in New Zealand only get them on a small scale.
A few years ago I had a few beers with an ex-Aussie Firefighter and he said that he was in a situation where his Fire Truck and Crew were encircled by a raging fire and they had to just stand their ground with all the hoses blasting at it.
He said that the fire was like raging beast and the noise, he will never forget.
He was Honourably Discharged from the Fire Service as his Nerves were shot.
Good to hear the TTRs are safe.
Better get the old Trail Bike going after it survived that !
Thanks again and hope you can rebuild ok.
Kiwijeff





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mossproof


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Devastating! I'm so glad it was just "stuff" that was lost.
Good luck with the rebuilding - fresh start.

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PlumasDude


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Thanks for indulgence guys, I know its not a bike thing but is my home riding area so ...

Interesting fire video from a neighbor, cougar at 2:38. No motorcycles but their dirt bikes got burned too.



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JOHNYBOY


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that looks frieteningtened

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